Drying-machine.



No. 847,038. PATENTED MAR. 12, 1907.

' Yz'h-B. AYRES.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 17, 1906.

2 SEEETSSHEBT I.

NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE. ELWOOD B. AYRES, or PHILAD IIITIIIITI IINNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE HILADELPHIA TEXTILE MACHINERY coMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA. PENNSYLVANIA, A coRPoRATIoN or PENNSYL AN A.

DRYING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

l atented. March 12, 1907;

1 Application filed November 17, 1906. Serial No- 343,852. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELwoon B. names, a

I citizen of the United States, residing in Phila- I ments in the drying-machine for which Letters Patent were granted to J. K. Proctor on April 19, 1892, No. 473,263.

The. object of the present invention is to lift the material being dried ofi' ofthe conveying-apron at intervals, so as to open up the material that it can be more thoroughly dried than by the mechanismdescribed in the above-mentioned patent.

My invention is particularly adapted for drying wool, cotton, and other textile fibers; but it will be understood that it may be used for drying any material Which can be conveyed to the belt and which can be lifted oil the belt and be returned to'it Without injury.

to the material.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a drying-machine, illustrating r'nyinvention. F ig'. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional.

Fig. 4 is an en view on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. larged view of part of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a view illustrating a modification.

A is the casing of a drying-machine. B is an endless belt, which in the present instance is perforated for the free passage of air through the materialbeing carried.-

B .B are drums mounted in bearings 11 b at each end of the machine, and in the present instance the shaft of the-drum B is driven, the-carrying ortion of the belt traveling in the direction Indicated by the arrows, Fig. 2.

C is a hopper at the free end of the drier, in

which the material is placed to be collected b the apron and conveyed through the macliine. g

The present machine is divided into three com artments by vertical partitions a a and at tlih side of the machine is a series of airheating com artments D, which communicats with t e main drying-compartments above and" below the carrying-run of the belt B, as indicated in Fig. 3.

d d, are coils of heating-pipes in the {30111 of the material from the belt.

partments D, and 'E' E are fans mounted in the partition between the drying and airheating compartments for circulating the air. In the.- present instance the fans are so driven that the air will circulate down through the material and through the belt and up through the heating-compartment, asindicated In n the drying-machine illustrated and described in the above-mentioned patent beaters were used which were driven in such a manner that the under surface. of the heaters travel in the same direction as the belt. Consequently the material would heaters and would be pressed y the heaters against the belt, and the only loosening effect.

would .be by the beat'ersas they remove the .material, throwing the material forward against the deflector. In drying some mate.- rials this is objectionable.

By my invention I lift'the material bodily off the belt, at the same time loosening it to such an extent that the air will more freely pass through it. This is accomplished by the rotating lifters I, two being shown in the present instance, at the points immediately back of the partitions a a. These lifters consist of a shaft 1', having fingers '11, two sets in the present instance, and the belt at this .point is supported on a roller- J.- By'this means the blades of the lifter can be adjusted particles close to the belt, so as to remove all The lifter is rotated in the direction indi cated by the arrow, Figs. 2 and 4, so as to lift the material ofi the belt and carry it over itself, allowing it to be deposited again on the belt, as illustrated in said figures. The partipass under the tions a. a above the carrying-run ofthe belt terminate a short distance above the belt, and leather or fabric aprons extend down to the material, soas to prevent theescape of air from -one. com artment to another, and on theopposite slde of the lifters I are parti tions 0., also having aprons, and these partitions deflect the material onto the belt after being lifted by the fingers 'i, as indicated In Fi 4. I It will be understood that I refer to drive the belt at a slow speed and t e lifters at a hi h s eed in order to obtain the best results. In l ig. 4 I have illustrated a fixed trans- I verse bed J in place of the roller J for su porting the conveyer-belt at the point direct y under the lifter.

a, as indicated in t The operation of the machine is as follows: The material is fed forward onthe belt, and heated air is driven through the material by the action of the fans E, and when it reaches the first lifter I it is carried bodily ofi of the belt and thrown u and toward the partition lie drawings, thus loosening the bed of material.

' having arms arranged close to the belt so drivenx'that its under side will move in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the conveyer and at such a speed that the material will :be lifted off the conveyer and carried over the rotating lifter,

with a partition situated at one side of the lifter above the material, so'that the material 'as it passes over the lifter will come in Then it falls onto the belt an is carried through the next chamber and sub'ected to a current of hot air and contact with the partition and be directed onto the belt, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a drying-machine,

.of an endless erforated conveyer, a rotating lifter, said ter being rotated so thatits under side will move in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the conveyer,

with partitions on each side of the lifter above the material carried by the-belt, and means for circulating air through the endless belt and the material, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a drying-machine,

, of an endless belt conveyer, a lifter having fingers arranged to lift the material, the under side of the lifter moving in a direction op- K osite to the direction of movement'of the Belt so that the material on the belt-will be carried over the lifter, a roller supporting the belt and mounted directly under -the .-lifter,

and partitions extending-across the drier on each side of the lifter, substantially "as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELWOOD B. AYRTES.

Witnesses:

WILL. A. BARR, Jos. H. KLr-N-n 

